How trigger and game mechanics help to teach better

The topic of how to teach effectively is endless, and my breakthrough came after I realized that effective learning = the ability to keep a student in a repeating exercise cycle with a gradual increase in the level of difficulty.

From a practical point of view, I began to understand what and how to do only after I deeply went into the topic of the funnels of engagement (in the common sense of the sales funnel) + the topic of game mechanics.

4 years ago I was an apologetic of project-based learning, but now I realized that it is not the most effective either, because it does not take into account the factor of retention. In this sense, an order of magnitude more efficient - case-based learning.

Here I want to share some insights, and for those who are interested in more detail - I prepared a cycle of 3 lectures with a total volume of almost 10 hours - who needs a link at the end.

1. If we are able to keep a student inside the training cycle for a long time, then we will definitely teach him to do something.

2. The longer we keep a student within the learning cycle, the higher the results. There are no exceptions. Talented get up faster, but not the most talented achieve consistently good results, but those who practice more.

3. Training cycle = engagement trigger + task with uncertainty + reward + growth trigger.

4. Training occurs only and exclusively if there is a small uncertainty in the task, i.e. what the student DOES NOT KNOW how to do.

5. The student’s task is not to find a known answer, but to find his own.

6. The task of the teacher is not to give a ready answer, but to stimulate the student to explore and try to find a solution on his own.

So my father always acted by this way in mi childhood when I came to him with a quiz at school. He solved it, then put the sheet on the shelf. I could look, but did not look, because I knew that he would not respect me. On the other hand, the understanding of the fact that there is a solution removed the frustration and motivated me to solve the problem.

7. It is necessary to distinguish between situations when it is necessary to learn to quickly find existing solutions, and when to come up with FASTER yourself. These approaches do not compete, but complement each other.

8. The size of uncertainty determines the steepness of the learning curve and the level of involvement.

9. If the uncertainty is too small, the student is bored, there is no fan of overcoming and winning, little dopamine and serotonin. No reason to continue, emotional reward is not enough.

10. If the uncertainty is too great, then too difficult to learn and, stunent's motivation falls, he retreats and DOES NOT WANT to continue learning, because it becomes a source of frustration, not joy. There is no reason to continue, there will be no emotional reward, but there will be suffering.

WE LOVE TO WIN - ALWAYS. EXCEPTIONS ARE NOT.

The correct selection of growth gradient = game balance.

10. The role of triggers and rewards.

Involving trigger gets to start action and opens gestalt.

The reward closes the gestalt, and ensures the release of dopamine and serotonin.

Growth trigger provokes repeat action with greater difficulty to get more reinforcement / reward. Challenge is a powerful game mechanics.

11. Training cycle.

Without a growth trigger, it is impossible to create a learning cycle.

If the training cycle is repeated more than 300-400 times, then a dopamine loop occurs.

Roughly speaking, if to force you to check Instagram 4-5 times a day, then within 3-5 months there will be a dependency, because stopping the cycle provokes withdrawal and release of cortisol. You will feel anxiety.

90% of all beginners who start practicing activities with an endless learning curve stop and get away in the first 3 months.

Examples of activities with an endless curve are any art-style activity in which perfection is infinite and there can be no exit to the "plateau" of the learning curve.

My favorite example is martial arts. Adherents who held out for 5-7 years, as a rule, never cease to practice in one form or another, and martial art is an essential part of their life.

The same can be said about difficult hobbies. An example is that my spouse has been making custom perfume for more than 25 years and is deep in this topic. (her room had long since become the laboratory of a medieval alchemist, where she prepares her elixirs of ecstasy ...).

You can say so, if you want to learn how to do something and grow in it, you must methodically and gradually practice at least 4-5 months. During this time, the base is laid, but not in skills or knowledge, as someone might think))

The goal of 4-5 months is to teach your brain to enjoy this type of activity, i.e. shift external reinforcement to internal, when you are able to reach the state of flow (in FMH) without external reinforcement.

If you have achieved this, then after a few (9-10) months of practice, the results will begin to appear.

All lectures 10 hours, almost 70 parts, in each lecture the first 1-1.5 free access: https://alexeykrol.com/all/